Gold eases as traders review US-Venezuela situation, dollar rises
Spot gold dropped 0.8 per cent to $4,461.51 per ounce, as of 1001 GMT, after briefly touching a more than one-week high earlier in the session
 "Gold eases as traders review US-Venezuela situation, dollar rises")
Gold prices fell on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and investors reassessing the recent developments in the US-Venezuela situation weighed on the metal.
Spot gold dropped 0.8 per cent to $4,461.51 per ounce, as of 1001 GMT, after briefly touching a more than one-week high earlier in the session. Bullion had hit a record high of $4,549.71 on Dec. 26.
US gold futures for February delivery were down 0.5 per cent at $4,471.30.
"It's been quite a frenetic and volatile start to kick off the New Year so some profit-taking and reassessment of the Venezuelan situation especially seems in order," said Jamie Dutta, chief market analyst at Nemo.money.
In a sign that Washington is coordinating with the Venezuelan government since capturing President Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under US blockade.
Further pressuring gold, the US dollar hovered near a more than two-week high, making greenback-priced metals more expensive for other currency holders.
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said on Tuesday that aggressive US interest rate cuts are needed this year to keep the economy moving forward, while Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said further interest rate changes will need to be "finely tuned" to incoming data.
Markets are pricing in two rate cuts this year, as investors watch out for ADP employment data due later in the day, and US non-farm payroll data on Friday for further clues on monetary policy.
Non-yielding assets such as gold tend to perform well in low-interest-rate environments and during periods of geopolitical or economic uncertainty.
Among other precious metals, spot silver lost 2.3 per cent to $79.40 per ounce, down from an all-time high of $83.62 hit on Dec. 29.
Spot platinum dropped 6 per cent to $2,297.56 per ounce, receding from a record high of $2,478.50 touched last Monday. It gained more than 3 per cent earlier in the session.
Palladium traded 4.5 per cent lower at $1,740.12 per ounce.
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